Tread member for shoes



1934. PVB. SULLIVAN I TREAD MEMBER FOR SHOES Filed Feb, 2, 1934 derstoodfrom the following description when brought thereto in such arelationship that its Patented Aug. 14, 1934 1 UNITED sTATss smear FFEQETREAD MEBEER FOR. SHOES Peter B. Sullivan, Randolph, Mass.

Application February 2, 1934, .Serial No. 709,444

8 Claims. (Cl. 3636) This invention relates to the construction of to insubstantially the manner illustrated in Figs. the bottom members ofboots and shoes, herein- 1, 2 and 3. after referred to generically asshoes. Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the construc- As is wellknown by those skilled in this art, tion there shown comprises a woodheel 2 which,

I it is a common practice to secure a leather orrubas shown in Fig. 3,may be covered in the usual 1061 top lift to the bottom of theheel of ashoe manner. Formed in the bottom or tread face of where it forms thetread member. Practically this heel is a cavity 3 which may, if desired,exall of the wear of the heel comes on this tread tend through to thebreast surface of the heel in element and since this wear usually occursmore case the tread face of the heel is of very small '10 rapidly at onemargin than the other of the heel, dimensions, this, however, notusually being it is desirable to renew these members before thenecessary. Secured to said bottom face is a metal wear has proceeded farenough to distort the upplate a having suitable holes punched thereperof the shoe. This is particularly true in through to receive the screws,nails, or other faswomens high heeled shoes. Much the same tenings bymeans of which it is secured in place.

15 problem occurs also in the forepart of ashoe when The top lift ortread element for this heel is it is desired to attach tread members ofany kind shown at 5, and preferably consists of a rubber to the outsole.lift provided with an integral lug 6 extending up The present inventiondeals especially with Wardly from its upper surface. This lug shouldthese considerations, and it aims to devise a conbe of greater lengththan width and may con- 2Q struction which will securely hold such treadveniently be given the shape of an ellipse, as members in their normalor operative positions, shown. Formed through the plate 4 is anaperwhile at the same time facilitating the renewal of ture 7 of thesame shape and dimensions as the such members when occasion arises.horizontal outline of the lug 6, so that this lug The nature of theinvention will be readily uncan be inserted through the plate when it isread in connection with the accompanying drawlongitudinal axis registerswith that of the apering, and the novel features will be particularlyture '7. After the lug has been pushed through pointed out in theappended claims. the aperture, the entire tread member 5 with the In thedrawing, lug 6 may be rotated in a clockwise direction, as

' 30 Figure 1 is a perspective View of portions of a indicated by thearrow in Fig. 2, until the side -5Q her embodying features of thisinvention; ture '7 where they will bite into the side of the heel for awomans shoe embodying features of of the lug 6 brings up against a stop8, Figs. 1 and this invention; r 2, projecting upwardly from the plate 4and Fig. 2 is a plan viewof certain of the parts formed integral withit. This prevents further illustrated in Fig. l but showing them removedrotation of the lug and tread member, but at this 35 from the heel; timethe longer horizontal dimension of the lug Fig. 3 is a vertical,longitudinal, sectional view extends at right angles to that of theaperture 7 of a heel of the general construction illustrated so that itsends are projecting over the edges of in Fig. 1; the plate 4, theseedges biting into the very short Fig. 4 is a bottom View of a shoeshowing addin k w h ts the lu 6 With' ts supp tin 40 tional treadmembers removably secured in posimember 1 fact, this neck y be e S tionby means embodying features of this inven- P y Cutting i o the pp s ds0f t e 111% ti v V at approximately its junction with the main body Fig.5 is a vertical, sectional view on approxiof the e colilsequently. Whene -m the i Fig I parts are in this relationship, the tread member 4 Fig6 is a perspective View of One of the metal is secured firmly to thelower face of the heel 2 and in its operative relationship to said heel.g g i theiorepalft the $11.08 shwn In order to lock the top lift orother tread member 5' against backward rotation, a series Fig. '7 is anangular view of another tread memof teeth 9 are formed in the edge ofthe amp 8 is a Vertibal, Sectional V w through a lug 6, these teethbeing inclined in the direction portion of a Shoe equipped h the memberH1115- of original rotation of the lug so that they exert t a i and v ahighdegree of resistance against backward Fig. 9 isa bottom view of theheel endof a shoe rotation, thus practically locking the lug against 55showing additional tread members secured theresuch backward rotativemovement.

When the tread member has become worn and it is desired to renew it,sufiicient force can be applied to the old member to back it up againstthe resistance of the teeth 9, it being then immaterial whether or notthe teeth ruin the lug. When this rotative movement has proceeded farenough to bring the lug into register with the aperture 7, the member 5may be removed by pulling the lug out of the aperture, after which thismember may be replaced by a new one in the manner above described.

The invention thus provides a construction which will securely hold thetop lift to the heel or other bottom member of the shoe but with Vwhich, nevertheless, renewal of the tread member can easily be effectedwhen desired. By making the upper surface of the member 5 somewhatconcave, as shown in Fig. 1, its edges can be made to hug the lowersurface of the plate 4 closely so that a good fit of this member againstthe plate is obtained.

Essentially the same construction can be used in securing other treadmembers-to the bottom of the shoe, at either the heel or forepart, asdesired, and the character and the shapes of the tread members sofastened to the shoe can be varied widely. For example, Fig. 9 showsthree such tread members indicated, respectively, at 10, 11 and 12, allsecured to the heel base of a shoe by plates 4 and lugs 6' essentiallylike the plates 4 and the lugs 6 above described, except for thedifierence in dimensions and shapes, the plates being secured by nails,rivets, or other fastenings, to the bottom of the heel base. At the sametime any one of these members 10, 11 or 12 can be removed or replacedwith a new one whenever desired.

For some purposes, as for instance in attaching tread members to theoutsole of a shoe, it may be preferable to replace the plate 4 with aplate construction such as that illustrated at 14 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.This plate is located in an aperture cut through the outsole 15 toreceive it, and it has a portion provided with an aperture '7 like theaperture 7 of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. At opposite ends ofthe aperture the plate also is provided with shouldered portions 16-16of approximately the thickness of the outsole, and the ends of the plateare turned over at the upper edges of these shoulders to provide flanges1'717 which lie between the insole and outsole or between other layersof the shoe bottom, these flanges being perforated to receive rivets orother fasteners for securing the plates to the shoe-bottom. An outsolewith these plates located in it and riveted to it can be supplied to thetrade as an article of manufacture. The tread memberssecured in theseplates may be of circular form, as indicated at 20-20, Figs. 4 and 5, orthey may be of any other desired shape, eachof these membersbeingprovided with a lug like that shown at 6 Fig. 1. These tread membersthus can be-renewed whenever desired. They are useful not only for theordinary purposes for whichsuch tread elements are applied to theoutsoles of shoes, but, in addition, they can be made of such areas asto furnish substantially the entire tread or wear receiving surface of ashoe for children and this member having an extension 21 projectinglaterally therefrom and provided with an up- Wardly extending flangepreferably terminating in a lip 22, this flange and the lip beingdesigned to fit over the edge face of the sole with the lip extendinginto the welt crease, or other corresponding portion of the shoe, bothfor the purpose of protecting the edge of the sole and also to reducethe strain on the upstanding lug caused by the scuifing of the feet.This device is releasably secured to the shoe by a plate constructionlike those shown in any of the preceding figures.

The invention thus provides a construction for securing tread members toany portion of a shoe bottom which holds these members securely inposition, while at the same time facilitating the renewal of them by thewearer whenever desired.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied inother forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

. For example, if the invention is to be applied to outsoles of themolded types, such as rubber and fiber soles, the plates 14 can bemolded into the body of the outsole, the molds being so designed as toproduce the cavities required to receive the lugs which are insertedthrough the apertures in these plates.

1-Iaving thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A shoe bottomhaving a cavity extending thereinto from the bottom facethereof, a plate secured to a member of the shoe bottom and partlycovering said cavity, a tread memberhav ing a lugrigid therewith andprojecting from the upper face thereof, said plate having an aperture toadmit said lug when the lug is presented in a predetermined positionalrelationship thereto, said lug and aperture being of such dimensions asto cause a relative turning movement of said lug and said plate, afterthe lug has been inserted through said aperture and positioned in saidcavity, to lock saidlug and said tread :member to said shoe bottom andagainst withdrawal therefrom.

2. A construction according to preceding claim 1, including means forlimiting the rotative movement of said lug into its locking relationshipto said plate, and additional means for substantially preventing abackward rotation of the lug away from said locking position.

3. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which said platecarries a stop serving to limit the rotation of said lug into itslooking relationship to the plate, and is also provided with teeth tobite into said tread member and efiectively resist backward rotation ofsaid lug away from its locking position.

4. A construction according to preceding claim .1, in which said treadmember is made of rubber and is provided with an extension projectingbeyond the, main body of the member and adapted to fit around andprotect the exposed edge face of the shoe bottom.

5. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which said treadmember is made of rubber and said. lug is integral, therewith and isconnected to the main body of 'said member by a short neck reduced indiameter, whereby said member will fit snugly against the bottom of saidplate and the edges of said lug will overlie the edges of the apertureat the top of the plate.

ioo

6. A shoe bottom member having a cavity extending thereinto from thebottom face thereof, a plate secured to the shoe bottom and partlycovering said cavity, a tread member having a lug rigid therewith andprojecting from the upper face thereof, said plate having an aperture ofgreater length than width and said lug being correspondingly shaped topass through said aperture when inserted therein with the longerdimension of the lug registering with that of the aperture, said lughaving a neck of reduced diameter connecting the main body of the lugwith the main body of said tread member, whereby the lug and member maybe given a partial rotation after the lug has been inserted through saidaperture and into said cavity to cause the edges of the plate atopposite sides of said aperture to enter said reduced neck and leaveportions of said lug overlying said edges and thereby locking saidmember to the shoe bottom.

'7. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which the shoebottom member consists of a shoe heel, said plate is secured to thelower face of said heel and has an outline conforming to that of saidface, and said tread member is made of rubber and forms a top lift forsaid heel.

8. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which the plate ismade of metal and is shouldered at opposite ends of said aperture toextend through the shoe bottom and is provided with outwardly extendedflanges above the apertured portion of the plate and offset withreference thereto to facilitate the anchoring of said plate between thelayers of the shoe bottom.

PETER B. SULLIVAN.

